Hendrick B. G. Casimir first demonstrated in 1948 that significant forces can arise from myriad bombardment of transitory “virtual particles” when they collide with matter. In accordance with the principles of quantum electrodynamics, these ubiquitous virtual particles exist throughout the universe, including the vacuum of outer space, forming a kind of chaotic “quantum foam” at the subatomic level. Moreover, these virtual particles continually form and disappear as a consequence of the so-called “vacuum energy”, also known as “zero-point energy” (ZPE), which exists even at absolute zero.
As Dr. Casimir noted in his original work, the presence of conducting materials directly affects the formation of ZPE virtual particles. In particular, he found that a force was generated on closely-spaced parallel conducting plates due to exclusion of lower-energy ZPE virtual particles between the plates. In explicit terms, the magnitude of the normal Casimir force, Fc, perpendicular to perfectly conducting parallel plates having a vacuum between them, can be expressed as:
                              F          c                =                                            π              2                        ⁢            ℏ            ⁢                                                  ⁢            cA                                240            ⁢                                                  ⁢                          a              4                                                          Equation        ⁢                                  ⁢        1            where h is the reduced Planck constant, c is the speed of light, A is the area of the plates and a is the distance between the plates.
However, due to limitations of instrumentation and the inability to manufacture complex nanostructures at that time, Dr. Casimir was unable to measure this force to any great accuracy. With the advent of much more precise instrumentation in the early 1990's, the Casimir force for parallel conducting plates has since been repeatedly measured in many laboratories around the world and found to be in agreement with his original work to accuracies better than 5%. Quite recently, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) commissioned the University of Alabama at Huntsville to measure the Casimir force to a high degree of accuracy. Their results have coincided with Dr. Casimir's formula to within a few percent (see REFERENCES).
Based upon measurements and computations, the present inventor recognized that a lateral or transverse Casimir-like force can be generated between two non-parallel conducting plates which is directed in the plane of the plates instead of perpendicular to them. A component of this lateral or transverse Casimir force was first measured by Chen and Mohideen in 2002 between symmetrical corrugated conducting surfaces giving rise to a lateral oscillating force.
However, the present Applicant has determined that the proper arrangement of asymmetrical, non-parallel conducting plates can result in an unopposed lateral force component that has been referred to herein as the “Cormier-Casimir force” and its associated generating nanostructure as the “Cormier-Casimir Force Generating Device” or CFGD. Because the present invention generates a Cormier-Casimir force that is non-uniform along its axis of propagation, it is analogous to hydrostatic buoyancy forces; on the other hand, the Cormier-Casimir force has a much greater magnitude. Equation 2 explicitly expresses the general formula for the total Cormier-Casimir force, Fcc, generated by rectangular non-parallel (i.e., prismatic) conducting plates having a lengthwise axis, L, and a width, Δx, where the top plate is slanted at an angle, θ, to the one below, and has its closest edge spacing, a, to the lower plate (see FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B):
                              F          cc                =                                                                              π                  2                                ⁢                ℏ                ⁢                                                                  ⁢                cL                                            720                ⁢                                                                                        ⁡                          [                                                a                                      -                    3                                                  -                                                      (                                          a                      +                                              Δ                        ⁢                                                                                                  ⁢                        x                        ⁢                                                                                                  ⁢                        tan                        ⁢                                                                                                  ⁢                        θ                                                              )                                                        -                    3                                                              ]                                .                                    Equation        ⁢                                  ⁢        2            
As expected in the case where the conducting surfaces become parallel such that θ=0, the magnitude for the total Cormier-Casimir force, Fcc, in Equation 2 becomes vanishingly small. For this illustrative embodiment of the present invention, the corresponding nanostructure CFGD is formed epitaxially on a conventional integrated-circuit (IC) substrate. Specifically, a non-parallel conducting plate has been formed as a “gate-type” conductive strip, having electrical properties similar to those of an insulated-gate field-effect transistor (IGFET). The other rectangular electrically conducting layer comprises either a metal, a superconductor or a semiconductor in its conductive state.
Indeed, using a semiconductor substrate wafer provides an almost ideal basis for fabrication of the nanostructure CFGD in the present invention. This is because in addition to affording epitaxial formation methods utilized in fabrication of modern ICs, the silicon-based substrate wafer permits a means for on-chip connection to standard complimentary MOS, or “CMOS”, digital logic circuitry (often referred to as “glue logic”) to permit building of interfaces to accommodate external computer control. Said interfaces can thereupon connect to standard computer address and data buses to provide a means for precise programmable switching, modulation and control of generated Cormier-Casimir forces.
In addition, utilizing the methods and means described herein permits fabrication of a nanostructure CFGD having very narrow gate-oxide thicknesses to within one nanometer, by employing an architecture similar that found in lateral enhancement-mode MOSFETs, without causing electrode deformation. Such dimensions are possible because the semiconductor substrate remains in an “insulator” or “off” state during the fabrication process, thereby limiting the Cormier-Casimir forces to vanishingly small values at that time. Yet upon completion of the fabrication process, the IC substrate can be switched into a highly conductive or “on” state for generating a very large Cormier-Casimir force component.
Furthermore, the present inventor recognized that the switching properties of the aforesaid CFGD could be enhanced by adding a narrow lightly-doped N-type layer to the IC substrate immediately beneath the non-parallel gate-oxide, thereby providing extra electron carriers to facilitate transition of the CFGD lower plate into a highly-conductive “on” mode. Consequently, one CFGD embodiment described herein can be electronically switched from an “off” to an “on” state, for use in a variety of applications including propulsive means in aeronautical and astronautical systems, as well as in computer-controlled manufacturing, robotics, biotechnology and nanotechnology actuators, and energy conversion systems.
The basic methods and devices for fabrication and operation of a plurality of non-parallel conductors used in the nanostructure CFGDs of the present invention necessary to generate a Cormier-Casimir force by incorporating various substrates have been previously described in the provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/738,847, entitled “Method and Apparatus for a Transverse Casimir Force Generator”, filed Nov. 22, 2005, as well as in the provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/010,436, entitled “Method and Device for Generating a Cormier-Casimir Force Under Computer Control”, filed Jan. 9, 2008. In addition, the co-pending patent application Ser. No. 11/561,839, entitled “Method and Device to Generate a Transverse Casimir Force for Propulsion, Guidance and Maneuvering of a Space Vehicle”, filed Nov. 20, 2006, describes methods and devices that can be reformulated within and extended to the context of the present invention as described herein, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference.